Birthday Oscar for French oldest actress nominee?
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HOLLYWOOD (AFP) - Veteran French star Emmanuelle Riva turns 86 on Sunday - and could end up celebrating her birthday by becoming the oldest ever best actress Oscar winner.
Riva, already the oldest nominee in the category for her moving performance in Cannes-winning Amour, could also become only the sixth actor to win an Oscar for a performance in a language other than English.
The clear frontrunners this year are Jennifer Lawrence in romcom Silver Linings Playbook and Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty, but Riva could still come through as a dark horse candidate.
Riva, who burst onto the big screen more than 50 years ago in Hiroshima, Mon Amour, got a pre-Oscars boost on Friday when she took best actress in a clean sweep for Amour at the Cesars, France's equivalent of the Academy Awards.
